Patient Safety & Quality Improvement in Women's Health Care

Look to this page for important resources and announcements of upcoming events designed to help you improve the quality and safety of the midwifery care you provide.

The ACNM Healthy Birth Initiative - The American College of Nurse-Midwives Healthy Birth Initiative™ aims to
maximize women’s opportunity to have a healthy birth using their own
natural physiology while avoiding unnecessary procedures that may
interfere with that process. The initiative takes a 3-pronged approach,
equipping women, maternity care providers, and quality managers,
hospital policymakers, and payers with the tools to inspire better care,
better health, and lower costs. Learn more.

The Coalition for Quality Maternity Care (CQMC) works to establish national strategies to ensure access to affordable, high quality maternity care for all women and infants. CQMC consists of ACNM, 8 other founding organizations, and 10 partnering organizations.

Other Resources

International Midwifery StandardsThe International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) has established a set of global standards, competencies, tools and guidelines to ensure that midwives in all countries have effective education, regulation and strong professional associations.

NICE Guidelines for Intrapartum CareIn December 2014 the UK's National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) released updated guidelines stating that women with uncomplicated pregnancies are better off in the hands of midwives than hospital physicians during birth. Although these are UK guidelines, they are based on evidence and focus on the same entrenched issues that impact clinical care decisions right here in the United States.

Quality and Patient Care in Labor & Delivery: A Call to Action This white paper was a collaborative effort from ACNM, Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American Academy of Family Physicians, American Academy of Pediatrics, and Association of Women's Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses.

National Quality ForumThe National Quality Forum (NQF) reviews, endorses, and recommends use of standardized health care performance measures. Performance measures are essential tools used to evaluate how well health care services are being delivered.

Institute for Healthcare ImprovementThe Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI), is an independent not-for-profit
organization based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and is a leading innovator in health
and health care improvement worldwide.

Quality indicators are measures that focus on healthcare processes, structures, or outcomes and help to indicate the quality of healthcare. This information can be used to improve care and to prevent adverse outcomes. AHRQ compiles indicators derived from common hospital administrative data. Included in AHRQ's patient safety indicators are national hospital data on birth and obstetric trauma.

Nursing Alliance for Quality Care (NACQ)The mission of NACQ is to advance the highest quality, safety, and value of consumer-centered health care for all individuals -- patients, their families, and their communities.